Hours of Fun

Gavin loves to push these dried peas around with his John Deere tractors. I really despise stepping on them for days and days after he plays with them, but occupying him for long periods of time is definitely worth it!

The Bald Spot

Here is Charlotte's hilarious bald spot. It just cracks me up. Now you know the inspiration for all of my hats!

Gavin's can of sticks

When Charlotte was born, I knew it was going to be an adjustment for Gavin. He was going to need some things to look forward to, some things to do on his own and also some special time with mamma. He's had me all to himself for four years! Well, he made the adjustment a lot better than I ever could have imagined. I think this is one of the things that helped. I made this can with different colored sticks. Written at the bottom of each stick is something different.

The red sticks have activities that Gavin can do on his own while I am busy with Charlotte.

The blue sticks are special activities that Gavin and I can do while Charlotte is napping.

The green sticks are rewards for extraordinary behavior.

Gavin loves getting to pick a stick and see what is at the other end, especially if it is a green stick!

4 1/2 months and 4 1/2 years

This post is more for me than for any of you , so feel free to skip this post!

Charlotte Mae 4 1/2 months old:
She is pretty much the easiest baby ever! She is so different from her big brother.

At her last dr.'s appointment she weighed in at 13 lbs. 9 oz.

She is sleeping 9-10 hours at night and wakes up chatting and cooing in her crib. She also takes 2 two hour naps and 1 one hour nap during the day. Her brother was NOT a great sleeper, so it's nice to have a baby that does sleep (she takes after her mamma)!

She rolled over, from yummy to back, two times just the other day, but hasn't done it since. I am pretty sure it was a fluke, but I thought I'd document it just in case!

She doesn't seem to mind tummy time at all, which is also very unlike her brother was at that age.

She is starting to grab at everything, which is pretty annoying but fun at the same time.

She has found her voice and is often SCREAMING for no apparent reason. She has just figured out how to be heard over her brother. Those sweet coos just weren't doing it, I guess!

We are attempting to correct her flat-on-one-side head to avoid the whole helmet thing. Apparently she prefers one side over the other. She has a hard time getting comfortable on the other side, but she is doing pretty well. At first you couldn't even get her to turn her head in that direction, but now she will do it with a little bit of effort.

She loves her brother as long as he is a few inches away. He can frequently be found right in her face giving her kiss upon kiss. She's picked up a new defense tactic with the screaming, though.

Gavin Mack 4 1/2 years old:
His current favorite color is green, because that is Uncle Jason's favorite color.

He is crazy about reading lately. This is something that I have been waiting and waiting for. I never wanted to force it but I've always suggested we do it. Now, I don't have to suggest it. Gavin brings me books several times a day to read. He even says he's ready to learn how to read! Yeah!

As far as toys go, he is also crazy for Lego's and crazy for all things pirates. He really can play with anything. This kids imagination astounds me. He can be occupied by a bag of cotton balls and some plain old paper for hours. Some days he doesn't even play with his toys, he just finds other things to play with.

He LOVES t.v. and movies. This is always a battle at our house. When he does get to watch movies, he doesn't just watch them. He gets out lots of toys and acts out the movie while it plays. It's pretty cute.

He enjoys doing his chores. Most of the time, He does them without a protest.

He is phasing out of taking naps. He still needs them occasionally, but for the most part, he has stopped taking them. If I let him take too long of a nap, he will be up playing in his bed until 10:00!

He is a busy boy, always wanting a different activity. His favorite things, above all else, is going to the park and to the beach. He LOVES being outside!

Budget Cuts and Preschool

Well, we've decided to send Gavin to preschool in the fall. It was a surprisingly hard decision. I never thought I would send him.But now I think it would be so good for him. What we didn't know is that if you want to get your child into preschool through the Chicago Public School System, you apparently have to apply the day they are born. It is EXTREMELY hard to get them into a decent school. So, since I was unaware of that, we are searching for a private preschool. They are NOT cheap. I am pretty appalled at how much they can cost. I've found them anywhere between $2,000 to $7,000 a year! For PRESCHOOL!!! We haven't picked one, yet, but I can tell you it will not be the $7,000 one!

We are doing some budget cuts to find the money to send him somewhere. We thought our budget was as tight as it could be. We were wrong. It is so fun to save money and do it in places you never thought you could. Ryan even just called our internet provider and they lowered our bill without even changing our service. In about two days we found an extra $200! Preschool here we come! Now we just have to pick one! Any suggestion from experienced moms will be greatly appreciated!

I can't believe . . .

I can't believe I neglected to put sunscreen on my son and he now has a sad sunburn on his back.

I can't believe I let my four year old play the Wii and now have a Mario Kart Monster on my hands!

I can't believe my sweet baby girl, who had pooped all up her back, pooped again on her diaper bag and all over the floor of our meticulously cleaned (by my husband) van during the diaper change. I also think poop may have gotten on my sister in law as well. She was holding babies naked bum up in the air.

I can't believe my son LOVES the muffins I made with cauliflower puree in them! I love getting veggies into my boy!

I can't believe this conversation took place between my hubby and me:
Me: wow, I am just like my dad, aren't I?
Ryan: I can't believe it took you this long to figure that out!

I can't believe I ate six tacos the other night and still have the nerve to complain about my weight. SIX TACOS!!! Seriously, what's wrong with me? They were delish, though!

I can't believe my four year old has stared talking back like a teenager. LOTS of "correction" going on in our house lately.

I can't believe my husband wants to get a certain car that I don't care for and is bribing me with talk of another baby. I have a slight case of "baby fever". He does not.

I can't believe while we were at the beach my husband looked over to see our son with his shorts at his ankles peeing in the water.

And lastly,

I can't believe I'm so lazy I told Gavin to pee in the water!

Bye Bye Training Wheels!

Gavin is learning to ride his bike without training wheels. Ryan and his grandpa made this handle for the the back of the bike. It is nice because you don't have to bend over to hold on to the bike. It's a real back saver! Gavin was doing very well. The only problem was when he started to fall, he LOVED it. So he was purposely crashing. If we can get him to try a bit more, I think he will definitely be riding well by the middle of the summer. It's hard to believe he's already here!

Missions Month!

The month of May is Missions Month at our church. I decided to donate all of my etsy sales to the missions fund. I didn't think it would be that much, as I've only sold a few items so far. Well, I ended up selling three hats and two headbands! The total was $36. It doesnt seem like that much, but I am very excited about it!

Gavin Talk

He is just saying the funniest stuff lately. What goes in, definately is coming out! Here are his latest zingers . . .

1. "You go girl!" - no idea where he heard this one

2. G: "Mom, I'm trying to teach Charlotte how to read.
ME: "Do YOU know how to read?"
G: "No, so do you think you can teach me?"
ME: "Of course!"

3. G:"Can you wear a pony tail today?"
ME: "Um, okay. Why?"
G: "Becasue it's SO pretty!"

4. He saw some naval officers on t.v. and asked, "Are those Hershy people?" This one took us a bit to figure out. Apparently their hats look like the hats they give out at the Hershy store!

5. This one is a daily phrase that he uses now. He will suggest an activity and then follow it up with, "How does that sound? fantastic?"

6. If you know my husband, you know that he LOVES to mess around and give people a hard time. I am frequently the recipiant of his crazy antics. This is a conversation that Gavin and I had yesterday.
G:"are some daddy's mean?"
ME: "yes, I guess some daddy's could be mean."
G: "But not OUR daddy."
Me: "no, our daddy isn't mean."
G: " Well, he's mean to you."
Me: "What do you mean?"
G: "Well, he's always knocking you over and telling you to stop doing stuff!"

I was cracking up. I told Ryan and he was so disturbed. He is a bit worried that Gavin will start telling that to people!

Memorial Weekend

Ryan's brother Jason and his family came to visit us over Memorial weekend. We had lots of fun. We packed as much as we could into the weekend. We went downtown, to the zoo, had a picnic, hit the Science Museum and want to Navy Pier. The kids weathered it all wonderfully! I was a little suprised at how well they all did. We put them through the ringer dragging them all over the city! Here are some pics from our fun filled weekend.

This was pretty much Charlotte's spot all weekend - in the baby bjorn

Ryan was in rare (okay, not so rare) form all weekend. Don't you just love his pose?

At the park - Gavin's favorite place in the whole wide world!

The cutest little family ever!

One of the best shots from the weekend! Love the skyline!

Babies in the car

Sisters!

Cute Cousins

Abesnt

Well, I've been a little bit of an absent blogger lately. Mostly due to the gall stones. I had a week and half filled with lots of pain! It seemed that I was going to have to get my gall bladder removed sooner rather than later. Then, someone told me about a cleanse I could do. Those evil emergency room doctors didn't tell me anything about a cleanse. She made it seem like removal was my only option! Well, I did some research and then I did the cleanse. It was VERY hard. Possibly the worst thing I've ever had to do. However, I think it worked. I've been PAIN FREE ever since! Yay! Hopefully it will stay that way. I've had to modify my diet and watch my fat intake (something I've NEVER done before in my life), but other than that I am pretty much back to normal. That means back to blogging!

Really?

Could she BE any cuter? I just want to eat her up!

This is a shameless promotion for my etsy site. There are a few new items in the shop - check it out!

Gavin has been dying to get Charlotte in the swings at the park. He LOVES the swings and so wanted his sister to know how much fun they could be. She didn't dig it as much as he wanted her to. And, as you can see in the picture, Gavin would have rather been on the big boy swings. He is gazing longingly at them while pushing her!

Jumparoo!

We got Charlie this jumparoo off of Craigs List. I think she likes it! It is nice having somewhere else to put her. She gets antsy so fast! I hope it will be hours of fun for her (if her brother will leave her alone, that is!).

Mothers Day

I had a GREAT mothers day! We got up early because we wanted to make it to the early service at church. Gavin and Ryan wished me a happy mothers day first thing. Then, they suprised me with Mario Kart for the Wii.



I have been wanting it ever since we got the Wii! It was so excited I almost didn't want to go to church! We were running a little late, so I ate my Mother's Day breakfast in the car - fruit tray and a Marble loaf from Starbucks! YUM! As soon as we got home I changed my clothes and we started playing Mario Kart. It was so fun. We even let Gavin play a bit. Ryan grilled some burgers and cooked up a nice big lunch for us. It was all delicious. He even did ALL the dishes - from start to finish. I took a nap! When I woke up everyone else took a nap so I read and played Mario a bit more! What a great day! I'm such a dork, but I'm glad my husband knows just what to do to make my day special!

Missions Month!

This month is Missions Month at our church. I've decided to donate all proceeds from my Etsy site this month. So if you were thinking about buying something, this is the month to do it!

Ethics reviewed

Thank you to those of you who left their opinion on my "what would you do" post. Here is what I did/or would have done in each situation.

1. The Roast Situation: This one actually did happen to us. Ryan and I were grocery shopping and I found a roast for $.13. I grabbed it with the intention of taking it to the register and seeing what happened. If it did ring up for $.13, I was going to get it. If not, I would have put it back. Ryan on the other hand DID NOT think that was ethical. He took it to the butcher and pointed out the mistake and they corrected it. No roast for us that week!

2. The coat in the park: This did happen to us and Ryan and I, again, had a difference of opinion. While taking the coat to a lost and found or the police station is a good idea, it is NOT practical in the city of Chicago. I doubt that anyone would ever call the police station to pick up a coat. I thought we should just leave it there. Ryan, however, thought it was okay to keep it. I still feel badly about it to this day (it was well over a year ago) and I don't think that Gavin ever wore it. My conscience bothered me way too much! This actually happened to us again this weekend. We were at a park and there was a little girls coat left behind. We checked with others in the park, but it wasn't theirs. We left it.

3. Target price discrepancy: This did not happen to me. It happened to a coworker of Ryan's. The cashier did not ring up one of her items worth $80 and she just walked out chalking it up to "good fortune". I have a similar situation before. I was at a store with a friend not intending to buy anything. I ended up finding something, but forgot I was holding on to it. I didn't realize it till I got home that I didn't pay for it. I took it back the next day and payed for it. The lady thought I was CRAZY for doing that. It was only worth about $2.50 I would always go back and pay for something, no matter how much it cost.

I thought it was interesting that Ryan and I differed on #'s 1 and 2. I wonder if it's a male/female thing as well as conscience. I think I am going to continue with these posts from time to time. I have a few more I want to lay on you! Thanks again for the comments you left!

Gavin Talk!

1. We were playing swords the other day and Gavin said, "I dangerous - ed you!"


2. He is constantly worried about his hair and will say a million times a day, "Is my hair sticking up?"


3. This is my favorite conversation as of late.
Gavin: When I get bigger, I am going to drive you and daddy to church
Me: wow, that will be cool.
Gavin: And when we get there I will be your teacher
Me: You want to teach at church?
Gavin: Yeah, I want to be the Head teacher, the one who teaches everyone
Me: So, you want to be the pastor?
Gavin: I sure do, mom!



4. While we were riding in the car . . .
Gavin: I don't think Charlotte knows about Jesus.
Me: No, she doesn't know yet.
Gavin: I will tell her!
Me:Okay
Gavin: (matter of fact) Charlotte, Jesus died on the cross for our sins. They nailed him to the cross and it hurted him. Then, he rose again.
(in amazement) He put mud on someones eyes and then he could see!
(concerned voice)And Charlotte, some people walked on dry land and some people drowned (the parting of the Red Sea).




5. "Hey mom, let my people go!"



6. Every season change it is a little bit of a battle to get Gavin used to wearing short sleeves or long sleeves. I was trying to get him to wear a short sleeve shirt and I was comparing the shirt to mine. I said, "See bud, my shirt has short sleeves. Don't you like it?" Then he says, "Yes I do, it's cute! I like it because it's so greeny! Can I have long sleeves?"



7. "Your baby is so cute!"



8. "I LOVE babies"

Planting seeds

Since we live in an apartment, we are not able to plant a garden. Planting is one of Gavin's favorite things, so we decided to do a make shift garden. I don't know how it will turn out, but we had fun doing it. We sure made a big mess in the kitchen! Because my mom was here to watch Charlotte, I got to take Gavin to home depot to pick everything out. It was so nice to just spend some time with just him. I really miss that. I think he does too, although he would never say that. He LOVES his sister.

OUCH!!

So, last night I experience the most horrific pain. It was bad. My upper abdomen was throbbing. I was pacing the house, trying to make myself throw up and whatever else I could think of doing to make it stop. Finally, I had to wake Ryan up. He suggested we go to the ER. We packed up the kids and went! It was 1 a.m. Boy was I glad that Charlotte sleeps through the night doesn't need to eat! That was such a blessing. Gavin was a little concerned. He told me that I probably just needed to eat something and then my tummy would feel better. What a sweet boy. Once we got there, he curled up in the waiting room and went to sleep. Charlotte was still zonked. I got in pretty quickly. Probably had something to do with my tears and the fact that the registration guy thought I was going to vomit on him. He was a little shifty. They asked me all kinds of questions and offered to give me morphine - sounded good! By the time they came back with it, an hour or so later I was feeling MUCH better. They wheeled me to ultrasound. I always see people on t.v. getting wheeled around the hospital in their beds and never thought twice about it. I felt like I was on a roller coaster or in a video game. It was insane! I was trying not to laugh. They did the ultrasound, confirmed I have gallstones and discharged me (after about two hours of waiting in between). I will probably have to get my gall bladder removed sometime in the near future. I want to wait until I am done nursing. Let's hope they do not return in the mean time. If they do, I am armed with vicodin (for me) and some frozen milk (for Charlotte). I've never taken anything more than a Tylenol for pain before, so I hope the vicodin doesn't make me too loopy! Please keep me in your prayers. Pray that this DOES NOT happen again. They told me it was pretty common for women in my age bracket who have had children recently. I was also told that I have to eat a low fat diet. Now I can't have coke OR fatty food. I better at least get skinny after all of this!

Because of Charlotte

Because of Charlotte . . .

My stomach is flabby
My clothes don't fit
I don't have much extra time
My house is messy. Well, just a bit :)
My feet have grown 1/2 a size
I can't drink my favorite beverage
I rarely leave the house
I come in contact with poop several times a day
I smell like spoiled milk much of the time
My laundry has doubled

I assure you, the list goes on and on. However, I wouldn't change a thing! I love this little girl more than life itself! I never knew little girls could be so much fun!

I can't believe . . .

I can't believe . . .

1. I hide from Gavin in the pantry to sneak sweets.

2. My baby put herself on a four hour schedule with no direction from me (Thank you Lord!).

3. Gavin finished his Cubbie book! Actually, I CAN believe that one - he's one smart kid!

4. I broke down and bought a new pair of jeans for my chubby self. I won't tell you what size they are! Hmmm, maybe I should cut down on #1 . . .

5. I have DRASTICALLY cut back on my Target excursions and I haven't even had withdrawal.

6. We still have 145 days till our vacation to Florida.

7. I have an obsession with all things onion.

8. I was taken over by my craving and drank an entire glass of coke knowing that it upsets my baby's tummy. Bad mommy!

9. My belt will not fit around my waist, so I had to use Ryan's ( I was even a bit nervous that his wouldn't fit me! He's so skinny!).

10. My hair is falling out, much like it did with Gavin, and my bald spots are coming back. If it gets really bad, I'll be sure to post pictures for you all!

I saved my biggest one for last - you are not going to believe this one, folks. Drum roll please . . .






11. My baby girl is THREE MONTHS OLD!

What would you do?

I frequently find myself in situations or hear about certain situations that make me think, "What would so and so do?" or "how would so and so handle this?" Sometimes Ryan and I even have a different view point on some things. So, I am going to lay out a few scenarios from time to time and ask you what you think or what you would have done.

#1. You are at the grocery store shopping for a roast. The price tag says the meat is $4.49/lb. and you are looking at a three lb. roast. The catch is that the total price is listed at $ .13. Do you grab the roast, take it to the counter and make them give it to you at that price? OR do you bring it to their attention so that they can fix the obvious error?

#2. You are at the park in the middle of a VERY LARGE CITY. Hundreds and hundreds of people frequent this park on a daily basis, but no one is there at the moment. You are playing with your child when you discover a very nice, very clean coat in your child's size. You know there is no way the people are coming back for it, or are they? You know that if you don't take it, someone else will. What do you do, take the coat or leave it?

#3. You are at Target and are buying a few very expensive items. Your total bill should be over $300. You are at the checkout and while the lady rings you up, you are chatting with her and not paying much attention to the price. You swipe your card, pay for your things and leave. As you are walking out to your car, you realize that your receipt does not reflect the price of the items you have. It should be at least $80 more. Do you leave it as is (their mistake) or go back in and pay for what is in your cart?

Two of these are no brainers to me. I know what I would have done. One is a little harder for me. Not sure where I stand. Ryan and I disagree. I wont tell you which one until I get your feedback. I am very interested in what you all will have to say! I hope you'll leave some feedback for me!

April?

Where did April go? So much happened that it flew by!

Ryan's mom came for a visit

My mom came to visit

I think Gavin and I went to the zoo at least four times with various people

We went to the Science Museum

We took Gavin to fly kites

We baby sat Maddy

We baby sat Gabrielle a few times

We went to visit Ryans Grandma and Grandpa

We colored Easter Eggs


We celebrated Good Friday and Easter at Church



That was most of the things we did in April! I hope your April was as fun as ours was!
I can't believe May is already here! Pretty soon I'll be saying that about Christmas!

Ryan with the Big Wig!

Ryan got to meet the President of Starbucks a week or so ago. I am not sure if I posted about that or not. He came to tour some of the stores in the Chicago area and make sure they were running smoothly. Ryan's store was one of the privileged ones to be included in the tour. He had a crazy week leading up to that day. I think he worked 12 or 13 hours the day before he came! Ryan's store passed with flying colors. It was awesome! Here is a picture of Ryan, the pres., and one of the other partners!

Zoo with Friends

We went to the zoo with our friends the Pareja's last week. It was a little cold, but we made the best of it! The kids had fun! I wish I would have gotten more pictures.

Here Puppy, Puppy

So every morning Gavin and I take our vitamins together. Gavin takes them as a dog, though. They are his bones. If I try and sneak his vitamin onto his breakfast plate or just give it to him in normal human fashion, we must start over. He just loves it. It's not that the vitamins taste bad, he likes them. He just LOVES to act like a puppy. So, here's how it goes:

Me:"Here puppy, puppy!"
Me:"Come get your bone, puppy!"
Gavin gets on all fours and starts making his way to the kitchen
Me:"Come on, puppy, puppy!"
Gavin makes it to the kitchen
Me:"SPEAK, puppy!"
Gavin barks
Me:"Speak Louder, puppy!"
Gavin barks as loud as humanly possible
I feed him the vitamin and he miraculously turn into a little boy again.

As you can read, the more times I say 'puppy', the better. He's such a little nut, I love it!

Cubbie Award!

Gavin earned his Cubbie Award at church two weeks ago! We were oh so proud of him. He even won the extra Apple Tree Award for saying all of his review verses each week. Way to go Buddy! Mom and Dad are so proud and love you so much!